Revenge
by FindOutBehindYou
Summary: What happens when Jarlaxle loses Bregan D'aerthe?
1. Prologue

I do not want to steal any characters from R.A. Salvatore. Please don't do anything bad to me.

I'm new, and this is my first story I've posted on this site. It is a bit short, and I'm sorry.

Please Enjoy.

**Prologue **

Jarlaxle stumbled from a dark alley in Menzoberranzan.

His hat was gone, along with all of his equipment. He had lost everything. He was shirtless, and his pants were ripped and torn. His body showed the marks of recent torturing; burns, scrapes, and whip marks.

But more significant, the mercenary band he had taken so long to create, had spent his life strengthening and entrenching in power in Menzoberranzan, was destroyed.

It had all happened so quickly; even crafty Jarlaxle had not been able to stop it. An ultimate conspiracy, it seemed, to have completely escaped the notice of Bregan D'aerthe. The matrons of the eight highest houses had gathered together in the chapel of house Baenre, where no magical intrusion could intrude, and had decided they had grown tired of Jarlaxle's impudence.

Somehow, they had managed to destroy the mercenary band and capture its leader. They had intended to torture him to death, but Jarlaxle, the ultimate survivor, had escaped. Somehow, he had managed it.

Now he wandered aimlessly through the dark streets of Menzoberranzan, remembering all that he had lost.

Suddenly, a blast of magical force bowled Jarlaxle over. Triel Baenre was standing over him. Jarlaxle scrambled to his feet, but a web spell from Triel had him bound to the ground.

Triel loomed over him, kneeling down next to him. She produced the sacrificial dagger of Lolth and raised it high...


	2. Valas Hune

Chapter One 

Artemis Entreri watched Jarlaxle toss and turn in his sleep. It was said that drow don't dream, but Jarlaxle was no ordinary drow. Entreri supposed he could just be having sleep problems, but he had never seen Jarlaxle like this. Usually he just stayed in one spot on the bed, and occasionally smiled, but had never tossed and turned like this.

Entreri's supposition about sleep problems went away as Jarlaxle sat up straight in the bed. After a mere second he started smiling. Jarlaxle reached over to the nightstand for his hat, and Entreri asked, "Bad dreams?"

Jarlaxle chuckled. "Preposterous! You know that drow don't dream." He reached over and put his eye patch on, without removing a hat. It was quite a feat.

"Sleep problems then?" Asked Entreri. Jarlaxle smiled and shrugged.

In truth, Jarlaxle was a bit worried. He had been having this dream for a week, and it wasn't magic induced, he knew, for one night he had slept with his eye patch on. When he had tried looking in on Bregan D'aerthe he hadn't been able to see anything.

Jarlaxle knew of no other drow who had ever dreamed anything. Only him. The last time he had dreamt was the night before Zaknafein had been killed.

Jarlaxle flicked the purple feather of his hat. "I have nothing to do today. You will be without benefit of my company today, and I am infinitely sorry." Entreri snorted and watched as Jarlaxle walked out of the inn, his boots clacking loudly every step of the way.

Jarlaxle spent most of the day thinking about his dream, walking in the forest just outside of town. Entreri, however, had a job to do. He was teaching the town militia how to fight. He didn't like the job much; he was disappointed in the skill of the men he was training. He could take the town militia by himself.

Jarlaxle decided to go back to the inn. The innkeeper had learned that Jarlaxle was good as drow go, and had even started to like him. "Visitor for ye." He grunted. Jarlaxle tipped his hat at the innkeeper, but inside he was wondering who had reason to visit him

As he walked to his room, a slim and short elf walked out of a hiding place. Jarlaxle turned to look at him. The elf looked tired, and a bit annoyed. He was adorned with all sorts of outlandish trinkets, and had two kukris at his belt.

"Valas Hune!" Said Jarlaxle. "Why did you journey so far from our homeland to see me?" Valas answered, "Your band is in dire straights. Kimmuriel is trying to destroy all those loyal to you so that when you return, he can keep control of the band." Jarlaxle was no longer smiling.

He nodded and saw Entreri enter the inn. When Entreri was close enough so that they would not be overheard, Jarlaxle said, "Entreri, I would like to ask you a favor." Entreri was taken aback. Jarlaxle continued. "Kimmuriel is trying to take over Bregan D'aerthe. I must journey to the underdark to stop him."

Entreri could see where this was going. As much as he disliked the underdark, and the drow, he knew that he would be able to come back to the surface, as long as he survived. He didn't worry much about the surviving part.

"I'd like you to go with me." Jarlaxle finished. Entreri nodded. Jarlaxle smiled. "That went better than I'd thought!" Valas, who knew common, asked Jarlaxle in drow, "Are we to bring a colnbluth to the underdark with us?"

Entreri replied in drow, "I'm no ordinary colnbluth." He had figured out that Valas was drow before he had spoken the drow language, and had expected something like this.

Valas ignored him and stared at Jarlaxle, who nodded. "Off to the underdark!"


	3. Losing His control

Chapter Two

"So Valas," Said Jarlaxle, "About Kimmuriel, how has he coerced my band so easily?"

Valas waited a while before answering, fiddling with one of his trinkets. "Kimmuriel has found a psionic artifact, one that greatly increases his psionic powers. He's using it to partially mind control your band. I was out in the wilds when he obtained it."

Valas looked at Jarlaxle and saw the gleam in his eye, and said, "The artifact is melded to his head, you'll never be able to get it and use it." Jarlaxle looked slightly disappointed, but recovered with a smile. He took his outrageous hat off and rubbed a hand over his bald head.

"Any questions, my lovely assassin cohort?" Entreri was slightly annoyed, but hid it well. "Why are we walking to the underdark instead of magical transport?" Jarlaxle pretended to consider the question for a moment, then said, "To annoy you."  
  
Entreri sighed. "No, really." Jarlaxle took a look around the nice forested area they were currently walking through. "I like the scenery." Valas gave a short chuckle, very out of character for him, though people acted out of character around Jarlaxle all the time.

Jarlaxle, not giving Entreri time to say anything, whirled on the assassin. Entreri's hand reflexively went to his dagger. He would have struck anyone else. "My dear assassin, could you think for a moment? My mercenary band is being taken over, we are hundreds of miles away, and time is most precious in our situation. We aren't going by magic because we can't, Kimmuriel has blocked off all transportation by magic in Menzoberranzan."

Jarlaxle whirled to face the front, then slowly turned back to the assassin with a faint smile on his lips. "Entreri, I am sorry. I shouldn't be losing my control. After all, I'm Jarlaxle."


	4. The Underdark

Chapter Three 

Before I get into the story, let me tell you a short one. The scene in the last chapter about 'Just to annoy you,' came from a real life experience I've had. A friend and me were walking to another friend's house. It was about three miles. After two, my friend asked why we were walking. I said that I liked the scenery. He said 'No, really,' and I said, 'Just to annoy you.' The reason really was to annoy him; we could have gotten a ride.

They had made it to the entrance to the underdark. Artemis Entreri felt a sense of dread as they neared the tunnel. It had been a long time since he had been in the wretched place.

Entreri couldn't really place what it was that he didn't like about the underdark. Was it the overwhelming darkness? It had been at first, but now he supposed it was the underdark's inhabitants. He had the magical ring Jarlaxle had given him to see in the infrared spectrum, and had learned how to interpret heat patterns.

It was the drow he disliked. Now, with Dantrag and Uthegental dead, he was quite possibly the greatest fighter in Menzoberranzan. He chuckled at the thought, then remembered his partner. He had trouble even thinking the word. Partner.

Entreri had never had any partners, or masters. Other's station didn't matter to Entreri. They were one of three things, employer, target, or bystander. That had all changed with Menzoberranzan. Now, out of twenty thousand, even though he could outfight all but maybe five, he was twenty thousand and one. Everyone was a master.

Then Bregan D'aerthe had come to the surface. After Creshinibon had been destroyed, and only Jarlaxle remained, Entreri had found a partner.

His partner was worried, wondering about the strength of Kimmuriel's artifact. How easily would Kimmuriel be defeated? Part of Jarlaxle knew that he could defeat Kimmuriel, and the other part wasn't so sure. How was he going to do it? If Kimmuriel controlled most of Bregan D'aerthe, Jarlaxle would have few allies.

How was he supposed to take on all of Bregan D'aerthe? Of course, he had left some backup plans incase something like this had happened. But most of them involved a member of the mercenary band. He couldn't be sure that any of them were still loyal to him.

Jarlaxle had already decided to ask Gromph for help. Gromph and Jarlaxle had formed the drow equivalent of a friendship. They didn't necessarily like each other, but they both disliked the spider goddess, Lolth, and were unsatisfied with their rank in the drow city behind the females. They shared the same views, and ones as radical as these in people of their level of power created alliance.

But Jarlaxle didn't know if Triel and the matron council supported Kimmuriel's rule, and if they did, he didn't know how much help he could get from the Archmage. Suffice to say, it would make Jarlaxle's job much harder.

The group came to a fork in the tunnel. One way led to Menzoberranzan, the other to Blingdenstone, home of the Svirfnebli. Valas turned down the one leading to Menzoberranzan, but Jarlaxle stopped.

"Valas," He called. Valas turned around. Jarlaxle said, "First we are going to Blingdenstone to get some aid in our quest." Valas looked visibly annoyed. "The deep gnomes won't aid us." Jarlaxle flashed a smile. "You forget; I am Jarlaxle."


End file.
